Hey folks!
Welcome to the first ever Comic Explosion Blog. This is Rickman. I design the Comic Explosion website and I basically drag Scott, the owner of Comic Explosion, kicking and screaming into the new millennium... He doesn't even know he has a blog yet. We'll see how long it takes him to see it.
I would love to hear from you. To hear what you love, hate, wish would change about comics and the comic industry. Email me your thoughts at ComicEx@Gmail.com.
One of my issues (get it... issues? Yeah, it's gonna be like that... deal with it) is the cost of comics.
Last February at the NY Comic Con, Marvel spoke about how they "were going to make the retailers a lot of money with the new $3.99 and $4.99 price tags." That's when I stood up and said that, in this economy, that type of thinking will kill the industry. It's times like this when we need to re-think our product and make it more accessible. A customer who loses his job is going to start cutting back. And what's the first thing that goes? Entertainment. Right now we should be trying to create a $2.50 comic, not a $5 comic.
Here's one idea: Marvel and Archie put out some comics on Free Comic Book Day that were about and inch smaller on either side. Not too much of a difference, but enough that it would cut the cost of the print run significantly. I'm ok with the comics being a bit smaller. Also, maybe we don't use such expensive paper. I'm sure there are many more ways costs can be cut and the savings passed along to the consumer. I like comics. I like PAPER comics. I would like them to be around for a while.
All that said, I was at the NY Comic Con a few weeks ago and both DC and Marvel announced that they are going to drop or keep many, if not all of their 22 page comics to $2.99. That's a great start.
Hopefully it goes through.
So send me your thoughts on all of this, or whatever you may have on you mind, to: ComicEx@Gmail.com.
And, while you're on the site, check out the Art Gallery. You can see some of my Prints and Sketch Cards that are available for sale at the store.
See you on Wednesday!
-Rickman
